"Works in Progress (2021)" is a smorgasbord of nine widely varying pieces: joyful, contemplative, humorous, serious (a public interest essay), personal essays, and dark stories, many of which are almost ready to publish independently, but will cost much more if purchased separately. The memory tax, family pride and ancestor snobbery placed in context (Letters to the Dead), our attitudes to beggars, stories about fatherhood, some tools that may come in handy when talking to writers (or else, or for writers dealing with the public), and many others. Real life is a combination of light and dark moments, and though I am often known for my humor and satire, there are untold stories within me that demand to be told, that would kill me not to tell them. A writer who fails to tell his stories is untrue to himself. This is why "Works in Progress (2021)" is a book I call upon all my true friends to read. Please, please, please: you don't know who I am, what I am hiding, and what burdens I am carrying, until you read at least this one book of mine, in which I keep my promise to myself and to my readers: to tell my truth. Why do I publish this book now? Because, feeling the fragility of life especially keenly at this moment in my life, I never know which book could be my last published book. And every moment is precious.

Works in Progress (2021)

Crasta, Richard

Parenting & Relationships

Invisible Man Press

A true story of World War II (in the words of the survivor, with essays by his son, an author): how Indian soldiers in the British army became Prisoners of War and were shipped by their Japanese captors in "torture ships" to Papua New Guinea, and how just a fraction of them, including the author, survived 3 1/2 years of horrific imprisonment, beatings, starvation, bombings and more to return home to India.John Baptist Crasta's story, written shortly after the war, was discovered and published 51 years later by son. At the time, John was 87 years old. He died less than 2 years later, after having seen his book in print. It was by reading his father's memoir that the son not only discovered his father; but decided to do all he could to make the world know about it. This book contains not just the father's memoir, but the son's essays about rediscovering his father and his feelings about the memoir.This shocking and poignant story of World War II and its forgotten Indian Prisoners of War has never been told before from the viewpoint of an ordinary Indian soldier who was there as one of its actor-victims. Nor has it ever been coupled with a moving story of fathers and sons."A classic in military history, telling the story of men trapped in a world of torture, starvation, and death"--Roger Mansell, War historian, in Tameme Magazine "You see the horror of war, without a trace of artifice, through the eyes of one who was there, the writing a simple act of catharsis. A war memoir that ranks with the best."--Professor Mark Ledbetter, Nisei University "Striking and raw, an antidote to myth. Something to be treasured. This is the kind of record that this generation is losing fast, and we need to hold on to this. It made me think of what had happened to my own father's memoirs, which were lost."--Professor Barry Fruchter.

Eaten by the Japanese: The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War

Biographies & Memoirs

Crasta, John Baptist

Community & Culture

By the father of three children, eight books, and one kicking and screaming Inner Child that refuses to go to sleep or grow up, this anthology of nonconformist humor, a No.2 Amazon humor bestseller for 5 weeks, imagines: —What if the child ordered to Go the F**k to Sleep (in Adam Mansbach’s zillion copy bestseller) decides to offer #resistance to adult fascism, using clever, child-like logic along with the occasional f-word? —Five thousand Indian yogis flown in to balance India's budget deficit by spilling coffee on their laps at five thousand McDonalds restaurants. —A Nuclear Weapons Fire Sale to balance America's budget deficit. By the author described by Kurt Vonnegut as "very funny," this is not a book for children, but for adults who love absurd, satirical, and “no sacred cows whatsoever” humor. "Hysterical and informative. For the rebel in you. Great style and humor"--Linda J. Lundy, Amazon 5-star review "Inspired silliness, Pythonesque goofiness, political bite."--Laurie Boris, Author of "The Joke's on Me."

I Will NOT Go the F**k to Sleep

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Imagine Edward Said, George Carlin, and Malcolm X jointly writing a book about universal racism from a cosmopolitan Indian's perspective and compiling "The Fourteen Commandments of Impressing the Whites" delivered by a White God? Impressing the Whites is exactly that kind of book. It had a controversial reception when first published in India, where it was featured on national television and briefly made an online bestseller list. Ferociously satirical and idealistic in turns, "Impressing the Whites" suggests ways in which the world might be made fairer for its increasingly multicolored inhabitants. The book also urges that diverse cultures and peoples retain their authenticity what makes them unique rather than succumbing to the universal tendency towards standardization.This 2016 edition is the first paperback edition of the book to be published in the West, and is mostly faithful to the original."The reader laughs, squirms, recognizes his/her own hypocrisy and the blatant absurdity of most unquestioned social conventions. Zany exuberance . . . mischievous pleasure."--Frank Feldman"Boldly goes where no Indian has gone before."--The Asian Age, Book Pick of the Fortnight.

Impressing the Whites: The New International Slavery

Politics & Social Sciences

Sociology

"Eaten by the Japanese" is the inspiring World War II memoir of an Indian soldier in the British Indian Army--a rare surviving account from among the thousands of Indians who were trapped in World War II, suffered, and lost their lives. Captured by the Japanese when Singapore fell, taking a moral decision not to trust the Japanese or to desert to the Japanese-sponsored Indian National Army, he is taken to Rabaul in New Britain (Papua New Guinea) in a "torture ship," he miraculously survives 3 1/2 years of inhuman treatment by his Japanese captors and bombardment by Allied planes. Rescued by Australians, he returns home to India and writes this memoir in 1946, which also refers to incidents of cannibalism. He then waits another 51 years before his memoir, written in pencil, is read and published by his son, Richard Crasta, who by then is an author living in the United States. In the process of reading this book, the once-estranged son rediscovers his father, adding his own Notes and three essays to the book, which he publishes and presents to his 87-year-old father on the latter's 50th wedding anniversary. “More than any book in recent memory, Eaten by the Japanese drives home the lasting effects of enforced captivity – not only on the bodies but also on the minds of the prisoners . . . it is a book about kindness, solidarity, and collective survival, about the bonds that matter: those between one single human being and another. Not a mere story of self but an epic of collective agony. ”--Professor Barry Fruchter. “A classic in military history, telling the story of men trapped in a world of torture, starvation, and death"—Roger Mansell, War historian, in Tameme Magazine “You see the horror of war, without a trace of artifice, through the eyes of one who was there, the writing a simple act of catharsis. A war memoir that ranks with the best.”—Professor Mark Ledbetter, Nisei University “Striking and raw, an antidote to myth. Something to be treasured. It made me think of what had happened to my own father's memoirs, which were lost.”--Professor Barry Fruchter.

History

Military

LATEST EDITION, DECEMBER 2013 (easier to read, bigger): When John Baptist Crasta, a small-town Indian soldier employed in the Imperial British Army, was posted to Singapore, he was overjoyed. Little did he know that he would soon begin a three-and-a-half year journey through hell as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese Army.  Along with thousands of other Indians also captured at Singapore, he was shipped to a labor camp in Rabaul, New Guinea, and is possibly the only one among them whose story of captivity lives in the form of a book. John Baptist Crasta's memoir, in almost biblically simple and direct language, tells the story of his miraculous survival. Whereas his son Richard Crasta's essays speak of how he discovered the memoir and published it, fifty-one years later, to his 87-year-old father, less than two years before the latter's death. Thanks to a few passionate readers, this book has become part of the historical record. The book also contains Richard's biographical and personal essays about his father; it mentions that the book was published by him, among other reasons, partly as a tiny act of redemption. "A classic in military history, telling the story of men trapped in a world of torture, starvation, and death."--Roger Mansell, Tameme Magazine "A book about kindness, solidarity, and collective survival . . . it is truly a testimony to truth." --Barry Fruchter, PhD This is the EXPANDED DECEMBER 2013 EDITION of the paperback, with larger, easier-to-read type; it also includes a previously unpublished essay, "The Defence Minister and the Politically Incorrect Prisoner."

Leaders & Notable People

Imagine Edward Said, George Carlin, and Malcolm X jointly writing a book about universal racism from a cosmopolitan Indian's perspective and compiling "The Fourteen Commandments of Impressing the Whites" delivered by a White God? Impressing the Whites is exactly that kind of book. It had a controversial reception when first published in India, where it was featured on national television and briefly made an online bestseller list. Ferociously satirical and idealistic in turns, "Impressing the Whites" suggests ways in which the world might be made fairer for its increasingly multicolored inhabitants. The book also urges that diverse cultures and peoples retain their authenticity what makes them unique rather than succumbing to the universal tendency towards standardization. This 2016 edition is the first paperback edition of the book to be published in the West, and is mostly faithful to the original. "The reader laughs, squirms, recognizes his/her own hypocrisy and the blatant absurdity of most unquestioned social conventions. Zany exuberance . . . mischievous pleasure."--Frank Feldman "Boldly goes where no Indian has gone before."--The Asian Age, Book Pick of the Fortnight.

Impressing the Whites

Social Sciences

In this picaresque comic novel we are presented with a surprising and refreshing India. Vijay Prabhu grows up in South India, and must battle nuns, Jesuits, and other demons as he negotiates a journey into adulthood, sexual fulfillment, and the American Dream. Partly, this is a story of a sexual and spiritual odyssey takes him from conservative Mangalore to the liberation of America--or so he thinks, until reality presents him with a surprise.

The Revised Kama Sutra

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

HarperCollins, Publishers

An attempt to highlight the dominant role of race in the present world bringing out the perceptions of non-whites by whites.

Impressing the whites: The new international slavery

Arts & Literature

Invisible Man Books

Il Kamasutra riveduto e corretto

Voland

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Crasta, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Crasta, Richard

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Crasta, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Works in Progress (2021)

Eaten by the Japanese: The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War

I Will NOT Go the F**k to Sleep

Impressing the Whites: The New International Slavery

Eaten by the Japanese: The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War

Eaten by the Japanese: The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War

Impressing the Whites

The Revised Kama Sutra

Impressing the whites: The new international slavery

Il Kamasutra riveduto e corretto